EugeneReef
New member
Hi all, I am 9 months into my first serious reef tank. 60g, just leathers and some LPS (candy cane, torch, hammer, favia brain).
I have Salifert test kits for Calcium and Magnesium.
After having went a little overboard with dosing a few months ago I set it aside and now am simply doing a 10% water change with reef crystals every week.
Corals seem happy though some are growing slowly.
I did a Calc/Mag test for the first time in a while last week and got 480 calcium, 1260 mag.
As I understand it, you want about 3x magnesium to calcium ratio so mine is a bit off. I've also read that if magnesium falls too low it can cause calcium and KH to crash, though I am not clear exactly when that happens or if mine is dangerously low.
I thought maybe my reef crystals were the issue because I read anecdotes about bad batches so I tested some freshly mixed water and mine was 1400 magnesium so no problem there.
I have some Reef Advantage Magnesium from my brief flirtation with dosing a few months ago, but on researching it I read it's basically Epsom salts which I read good and bad things about it. Basically it can work, but will raise sodium, but maybe that's not an issue if you do regular water changes like I do, but who knows.
The recommended Magnesium dosing method seems to be BRS two part solution. But on reading up on that, on their website they say you should only use it in combination with kalkwasser or some other calcium additive. Why would I dose calcium if my calcium is already higher than I want it? That seems like a bad idea. Or do they only say that with the assumption that both levels need to be raised?
Anyway, hoping to defer to some people with better experience and understanding than myself.
a) Are my levels concerning? Do I even need to act?
b) If so, how and what exactly should I do?
Using the tools I currently have available, it seems I could either try dosing the Reef Advantage Magnesim into my auto top off water, or could try doing larger water changes for a few weeks to see what effect it has.
If I dosed Reef Advantage, I assume dosing enough to raise by 25 mg a week should be safe? I would mix this in a jug and put it in my auto top off water. Or alternatively I could just put that much into my water change water.
If I did a series of water changes, I assume simply doubling my usual amount, on the same weekly schedule, is a good plan? I'm not sure it's practical for me to do larger than 20% water changes every week.
Thanks for any help
I have Salifert test kits for Calcium and Magnesium.
After having went a little overboard with dosing a few months ago I set it aside and now am simply doing a 10% water change with reef crystals every week.
Corals seem happy though some are growing slowly.
I did a Calc/Mag test for the first time in a while last week and got 480 calcium, 1260 mag.
As I understand it, you want about 3x magnesium to calcium ratio so mine is a bit off. I've also read that if magnesium falls too low it can cause calcium and KH to crash, though I am not clear exactly when that happens or if mine is dangerously low.
I thought maybe my reef crystals were the issue because I read anecdotes about bad batches so I tested some freshly mixed water and mine was 1400 magnesium so no problem there.
I have some Reef Advantage Magnesium from my brief flirtation with dosing a few months ago, but on researching it I read it's basically Epsom salts which I read good and bad things about it. Basically it can work, but will raise sodium, but maybe that's not an issue if you do regular water changes like I do, but who knows.
The recommended Magnesium dosing method seems to be BRS two part solution. But on reading up on that, on their website they say you should only use it in combination with kalkwasser or some other calcium additive. Why would I dose calcium if my calcium is already higher than I want it? That seems like a bad idea. Or do they only say that with the assumption that both levels need to be raised?
Anyway, hoping to defer to some people with better experience and understanding than myself.
a) Are my levels concerning? Do I even need to act?
b) If so, how and what exactly should I do?
Using the tools I currently have available, it seems I could either try dosing the Reef Advantage Magnesim into my auto top off water, or could try doing larger water changes for a few weeks to see what effect it has.
If I dosed Reef Advantage, I assume dosing enough to raise by 25 mg a week should be safe? I would mix this in a jug and put it in my auto top off water. Or alternatively I could just put that much into my water change water.
If I did a series of water changes, I assume simply doubling my usual amount, on the same weekly schedule, is a good plan? I'm not sure it's practical for me to do larger than 20% water changes every week.
Thanks for any help
